Startled Sparrow

[Complete] Some sections have been revised, so a few details may differ. No pirated copies, please. Yu Jin is the legitimate daughter of the Yu family, the military governors of Lingzhou. Born to status and privilege and doted on by her father and brothers, she grew up spoiled and rather affected. But then her family suffers a sudden upheaval. Her father and brothers go to war and are missing, their fates unknown. Her stepmother abandons her former gentle manner, and Yu Jin is forced into a bridal sedan, sent to the capital for a political marriage. While fleeing the marriage, Yu Jin slips and falls unconscious. When she wakes, she finds herself facing her rescuer, Prince Nanqi, whose famously indifferent nature makes women afraid to approach him. After much thought, she works up her courage and calls him, "Brother." Meeting his icy gaze, Yu Jin holds her breath and earnestly makes up a story. "My head hurts so much. I can't remember anything else. I only remember you, Brother." From then on, the Prince Nanqi's residence has a new young lady. With a roof over her head, Yu Jin has no choice but to put away her usual airs and perform a one-sided show of sibling affection every day, walking on eggshells. But the longer she keeps it up, the more she realizes Shen Que seems to be acting even more convincingly than she is. Before long, everyone at the manor realizes that it doesn't seem as if they've gained a young lady so much as a mistress of the household. Later, the father and sons of the Yu family return victorious. When Yu Jin hears the news, she packs her things and tries to sneak away. Then she sees the man waiting beside the wall. He says coolly, "Where do you think you're going?" Yu Jin twists her ankle in fright. "Oh, I was just... looking at the scenery..." Shen Que carries her inside, bends down, and takes hold of her ankle to check the injury. Yu Jin hastily refuses. Shen Que says with perfectly straight face, his tone light, "Why are you hiding? Aren't I your brother?" Yu Jin: ...TvT Little Extra: The military governor is heartbroken. He assumes his delicate daughter must be living a miserable life, so he rides to Prince Nanqi's residence overnight. But he finds that Yu Jin's every word and gesture is even more affected and aristocratic than before. Seeing the military governor's astonished expression, Shen Que says calmly, "It's fine. She's a young lady. She doesn't need to follow so many rules." Yu Jin's father: ? His young niece, who had been made to follow countless rules since childhood: ??? The world is not worth it. - Past and present lives - I must have loved her very much, in all those years I can't remember. Reader's Guide: * Past and present lives, not reborn. * The characters aren't perfect. Read with caution if that bothers you. Coming soon: A Hairpin of Snow Blurb: Ji Yuyao is the daughter of the Imperial College's chief instructor. Born under an unlucky horoscope, she is neither loved by her father nor her mother, and has suffered nothing but disdain. Even cats and dogs can kick her when she's down. She thought her life couldn't get any worse, but she was wrong. A political storm sweeps her up in its wake. Ji Yuyao is tricked into marrying her father's sworn enemy, Huo Xian, the notorious Pacification Commissioner who serves the very people who killed his father. He is ruthless and works alongside eunuchs. Countless people despise and curse him. Worse, he is a slave to his lust, with a harem full of concubines, like a den of fox spirits, every one of them trouble. On her wedding night, Ji Yuyao trembles like a sieve. Facing the husband of whom she'd heard so many terrible things, she shakes herself unconscious. Huo Xian finds her utterly boring and doesn't set foot in the inner residence for days. One day, he happens to return and passes the courtyard, where he sees one of his favorite concubines splashing in the water and crying for help. His new bride, who had frightened herself unconscious on their wedding night, sits nearby, her nails painted, and says in a nonchalant tone: "What's the rush? She won't die." The other concubines kneel nearby, trembling, as if they'd seen a living ancestor. Huo Xian watches with leisurely interest. Later, as he gazes at the glistening droplets on the back of Ji Yuyao's neck, his eyes grow dark and unreadable. Tsk. She really is an ancestor, his ancestor. . Huo Xian is a demon, despised by all. He is walking a path of betrayal and abandonment, until he meets someone who offers him a blade to cleave through the waves, even in the face of a mountain of swords and a sea of flames. -Even if history remembers me as a villain, I will be with him Mad (loyal) dog (hound) villain x cunning beauty #A black-to-white hero and a white-to-black heroine acting their hearts out every day# #Who will take home the Oscar? # Reader's Note: * The male lead is innocent in both body and heart. The den of fox spirits in the blurb is just for show. Theme: The night will pass, and dawn will come.